[Center][h1] Slateport City docks, late afternoon [/h1][/center]
Contrary to popular belief, waiting was hard. The way seconds sluggishly became minutes that stretched hours, while the same happy–go-lucky tourist trap in front of him continued on its business as usual. Kids dragging their parents over to look at some bauble, overly cheery vendors handing over treats, and friends, tired but happy, all meeting up for one last hurrah before the day came to a close.

Being forced to watch every single one play out with nauseating predictability was maybe the worst part. More than once, Rai found he could almost mine along with a bored roll of his eyes. It didn’t help his stomach was gnawingly empty, and though he had some money to get a bite for him and Kye, he knew he was going to need every cent if they were going to make a stay on Hoenn work.

By now, his jacket felt damp thanks to the air around them, and did little to make the drippy day any more comfortable. He felt even worse for his Pokémon, who had settled in under the bench and hadn’t moved more than to make a small sigh now and then. Then again, Kye never did complain much. He knew as well as his trainer there were just some things that couldn’t be avoided. So when Kye suddenly bristled underneath him with a low, rumbling growl, Rai’s attention snapped to what had his Pokémon so agitated.

To the dozens of passerbys, the two didn’t look any more out of place than he did at first glance. Trainers, the both of them, they looked like they might have just come back from a long day of training like so many others. They didn’t look as though they were the friendliest sort, but the two off on their own on the other side of the crowds certainly didn’t belong there. No gear, no umbrellas, nothing but the distinct red and white balls hanging from their belts. Rai feigned interest in the rest of the world, while keeping a sidelong glare trained solely on them. They didn’t speak long, before they headed out  into the dripping evening. Rai waited until they were nearly out of sight, before he left his seat with Kye surging up out of his place under the bench.

[color=b3f7ad]"Got that one?”[/color] Rai asked, jerking his head imperceptibly toward one of the retreating figures and received a determined growl in response,[color=b3f7ad] “Don’t let them see you.”[/color]

That was all the order Kye needed, before shooting off down one of the unpopulated sections of the market and out into the city after his quarry. He watched and waited until even the flame on Kye’s tail was out of sight, before starting after them himself. They were already deep into one of the crowds leaving the Marketplace when Rai saw the two that had split off in different directions join back up again. He couldn’t help the small grin that curled across his lips as they wandered purposefully further and further away from the bulk of the crowd and off into the rest of the seaside docks. They were up to [i]something[/i] and they didn’t want to be followed. Just a shame it was a trick he’d seen before.

Though the Marketplace enjoyed the open air layout near the docks, the rest of Slateport quickly swelled around it once again. Warehouses, shipping containers, heavy cranes and equipment made a veritable maze weaving in and around the seafront. Rai was out of his element here. These guys knew where they were headed and likely had a dozen different ways to ditch someone if they thought they were being followed, and likely would take a few of them just to make sure they weren’t. It didn’t help that the further they got from the busy center of commerce, the fewer people there were to blend in with and one or the other were already glancing back whenever it wouldn’t looks suspicious.

Rai decided to take a chance as they passed by an older building and swung himself up onto one of the old fire escape ladders and climbed. The guy was looking back, but he never looked up and mazes were always easier from a Fearow’s-eye-view. He knew Kye would be somewhere on the ground, but a pokemon without a trainer was a lot less suspicious than a trainer without his pokemon. Rai hauled himself up onto the roof and ran across the tops to catch up to his marks, glad to see he hadn’t managed to get too far ahead since he seemed more interested with a winding path than a direct route. More than once, Rai was able to watch him make several turns from the same vantage point, before he was forced to jump gaps to the next rooftop.

It seemed like ages before they made any kind of progress thanks to the twisting route the two had in mind. Neither one of them said a word to the other either. If they were worried about being overheard, they were doing a good job making sure there was nothing for prying ears to pick up. They finally ducked into one of the shipyards where great husks of once seaworthy vessels were in various stages of breakdown and repair, before they ducked behind a stack of massive beams and girders and never reemerged.

Rai swore to himself, as he abandoned his vantage point and snuck down onto the more open shipyard and made for the pile where he’d seen them vanish. He managed to sneak in a bit closer, straining to hear anything but the rush of the waves hitting the breakers, before a familiar orange head poked out of the pile and chirped at his trainer looking quite pleased with himself. He found Kye pacing and pawing at a small access hatch, cleverly hidden in the pile in such a way no one would have found it if they didn’t know it was there.

[color=b3f7ad]"Good work, buddy.”[/color] Rai said with a small grin, [color=b3f7ad]"I know it’s been a long day, but you ready to go make some new friends?”[/color]

[color=b3f7ad]"Char.”[/color] Kye growled, squaring his shoulders and baring a small snarled lip at the hatch.

[color=b3f7ad]"Atta boy.”[/color] Rai chuckled as he knelt down and wrenched the hatch open.

Almost instantly, Rai knew what they’d come across. He’d been hoping for an underground black market as close to the legitimate one as they were. But the moment he wrenched the hatch open and dropped into the hidden passage, he knew he hadn’t been anywhere near that lucky.

He could hear the shouts of men and women alike. The musty scent of dirt and sour sweat that choked the stale, humid air. The metallic tang of blood that was so thick, he could actually feel it coat his tongue.  He knew long before he could see the scooped out, circular arena what it was they’d found.

It was a Pit.

It was the worst kind of pokemon battling humans had managed to come up with, more bloodsport than test of skill. They were all out cage matches where both humans and their pokemon participated in the fighting until only one side was left standing. Sometimes the trainers brought in weapons too, usually anything to help even the odds against squaring up with a pokemon bred and trained to battle. Most of the time it was just to make sure there was a good show.

This place didn’t seem to be any different. The crowd was smaller than the ones back home, but they were no less enthusiastic about the sport, as it looked like there was a fight going on already. Rai could just see the black and silver tufts of fur of a Mightyena laying in a bloodied heap in one corner of the ring, as a Sandslash and his trainer were advancing in on their only remaining victim who was desperately looking for some kind of an escape. But the copper stained walls of the pit rose over his head, and by the time he turned around, the Sandslash had taken a swipe at him, shredding his filthy clothes and opening long gashes across his chest to the delight of the crowd. The pokemon held its victim in place long enough for his trainer to take over and finish beating the poor sap into the arena floor.

[color=b3f7ad]"HEY! Who the hell are you!?”[/color]

Rai didn’t bother feigning innocence. He knew without turning around whomever had been tasked with keeping an eye on the patrons had spotted him. Lying was an equally bad idea. He’d seen what happened to people like that, and in a place like this, it was almost bizarre how honestly actually was the best policy. But despite being asked a question, Rai only turned around in time for someone to grab hold of him hard enough to throw and pin him against one of the walls near the entrance.

His head hit the back wall hard enough to daze him for a moment, but Kye’s snarl near his feet jerked him back to reality in a hurry. Rai threw his hands up disarmingly, knowing an instant later he was going to be frisked head to toe and the sooner this guy got on with it, the sooner a tense situation would calm down.

[color=b3f7ad]"Take it easy. Im not looking for trouble."[/color]Rai said evenly, as the guy went through his pockets, turning out nothing but a ticket stub and the remains of the granola bar he’d had that day. The guard ripped off his backpack and threw it to someone else to go through, forcing Rai to hold back a sigh as they tore through everything he owned.

[color=b3f7ad]"You’re either dumber than a Slowpoke, or have balls the size of a couple of Golem for waltzing in here,”[/color] The guard hissed at him.

[color=b3f7ad]"Well since you’re the one going through my pants, you would know.”[/color] Rai smirked, unable to help himself. He made a quick flick at Kye to wordlessly tell his pokemon to stay back, [color=b3f7ad]"You treat all your customers like this, or just the VP’s?”[/color]

[color=b3f7ad]"You think you’re funny?! Why don’t I get a couple of Tentacruel in here to check you over and make sure I didn’t miss anything-“[/color]

[color=b3f7ad]"Oy, Sorel. Hold up.”[/color] The other guard stopped his companion from trying to throttle a smirking Rai then and there, [color=b3f7ad]"You. I’ve seen you before. Johto, yeah? Yeaaaahhh…. No, no, I know this dude! I watched this guy fight last time I went to Goldenrod! Watched him beat the ghost out of and back into this dude!”[/color]

Rai could feel the thug’s grip on him start to relax, and he half shoved him off. The guy was still glaring daggers at him, but it sounded as if he at least had one person to vouch for his validity in this underground world.

[color=b3f7ad]"Wassamatter man? Those Johto wimps bore you enough into coming here for a [i]real[/i] fight?”[/color] His fan laughed tossing his gear back to him.

[color=b3f7ad]"They might have,”[/color] Rai squared his shoulders. He hated the idea of stepping back into this ugly world, but the fact was, he needed the connections if could offer. And there was only one way to do that.[color=b3f7ad] “Unless those slap fights all you have going on. Or do you have an opening in the major leagues for me?”[/color]

The guard clapped him hard across the shoulders and guffawed as he started to lead Rai and Kye deeper into the complex.

[color=b3f7ad]"I think we got just the spot for you.”[/color]